Wilgerbosdrift’s exciting sire Fire Away had another good weekend when he came up with a trio of winners.
Fire Away’s first success came when his daughter Marshmallow won Friday’s ninth and final race at Fairview.
Trained by Cliffie Miller, four-year-old Marshmallow was given a superb ride by Marco Van Rensburg in Friday’s Next Fairview Race Meeting Monday 30 September FM 66 Handicap (1400m).
Van Rensburg bought his mount with a run down the inside of the track, and Marshmallow dug down gamely to score by a neck.
Bred by Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein, Marshmallow is out of the Var mare Fudge.
She hails from the first crop of Fire Away, with this crop also producing graded stakes winners Egyptian Mau and My Golly Molly, as well as East Cape star Luna Halo.
The inform Fire Away had two more winners at Turffontein the following day, with his son Hair Trigger victorious in the second race and daughter Fireburst successful in the following race.
Fire Away is also the sire of Jilted, who finished second in the first race at Turffontein.
The Roy Magner-trained Hair Trigger made much of the running to win Saturday’s Kevin Backos Maiden Plate (1200m) by a convincing two lengths. Bred by Clifton Stud, the three-year-old was making his fourth start on Saturday, with Hair Trigger having finished fourth or third in each of his three previous starts.
Promising Fire Away filly Fireburst, second or third in each of her only two previous starts, got off the mark on Saturday when running out an easy winner of the Alexander Laird Maiden Plate (F and M) over 1600 metres. Under a front-running ride from Gavin Lerena (also victorious on Hair Trigger), the Mike de Kock-trained three-year-old stayed on nicely to score by just over a length and three quarters.
Bred by Wilgerbosdrift & Mauritzfontein, Fireburst is out of champion Rat Burana.
Fire Away’s G1 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes winning half-brother Mr Speaker also enjoyed success over the weekend. Mr Speaker’s son Three Technique earned a berth in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile when he won Saturday’s G3 Ack Ack Stakes at Churchill Downs. Three Technique, who pushed his earnings to $1,186,237 on Saturday, has now won a pair of graded races with the entire also victorious in the 2023 G2 John A Nerud Stakes.